About “Streets on Fire”

In this rock-driven installment of the Cool saga, Lupe Fiasco and Matthew Santos describe an apocalyptic world where the government seems to control the people. Some allusions are made to George Orwell’s 1984. There are also references to the Streets, from The Cool saga, and also the HIV virus.

This song is very open to interpretation, and each line could be taken more than one way.

The drum sample that comes in partway through Santos' intro is from “Amen, Brother” by The Winstons (sample appears at 1:27):